Monday, May 07, 2012

The EU is stoking nationalism, protectionism and racism

The fons et origo of the European Union, the Monnet-Schuman European Coal and Steel Community, was established in 1952 with the objective of ending two millennia of friction between the Germanic and Frankish peoples. It was to ensure, through the irrevocable fusion of the raw materials of warfare, that never again would the horrors of two world wars be repeated. Schuman declared: "Through the consolidation of basic production and the institution of a new High Authority, whose decisions will bind France, Germany and the other countries that join, this proposal represents the first concrete step towards a European federation, imperative for the preservation of peace."

And so, tired of centuries of invasion and occupation, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands flocked to sign up to this wonderful plan for harmony, peace and unity. At last, petty nationalism and ethnic rivalries were banished from the continent of Europe.

It is ironic, not to say tragic, that the political mechanism designed to usher in an era of lasting peace, great prosperity and perpetual enlightenment should now find itself the cause of all that it sought to eradicate. Two weeks ago, France gave six million votes to their National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, and has now returned to socialism after Hollande promised a raft of anti-EU (ie anti-euro) policies. And Greece has rejected both the mainstream socialist PASOK and the conservative New Democracy parties, who between them are responsible for abolishing the drachma and ushering in an era of austerity, poverty and humiliating bailouts.

The French flirted with racism and voted for protectionism; the Greeks for nationalism. If neither country fulfils its obligations to the euro – that is, keeping the money flowing through austerity measures to prevent default – then it’s game over. Greece has to find a further €11bn of cuts next month, while businesses are going bankrupt, salaries are cut, taxes rising, hundreds of thousands are losing their jobs, and the country is in the midst of strikes, riots and suicides. With unemployment at 22 per cent, the people are angry; very angry. They are disillusioned with 40 years of alternating socialist-conservative conspiracy, and have turned for salvation to the political extremes, including the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn and nationalist Laos parties.

Referring to the memorandum of understanding between Greece and its creditors, Alexis Tsipras, head of Syriza, a Left-wing coalition, said that Greeks ‘will send a strong message to the whole of Europe that the barbarism of the memorandum must stop. The people are ready to turn a page and after two and a half years of repression we will try untied to lead the country on a new course.’ New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras gained the greatest number of seats, but should the smaller political polarities unite in coalition to keep out PASOK and New Democracy and oppose more euro austerity, it will inevitably take Greece out of the eurozone.
And then we will see the same in Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. A Greek default and euro exit would place enormous pressure on those nations whose economic fates are intertwined, not to say ‘fused’ with that of Greece, which was the Monnet-Schuman vision. And we would see mass migration (‘free movement of peoples’) as the Greeks flood Germany and the French flood Britain. Driven out of their homelands by high taxes and unemployment, they are free to live and work anywhere within the EU. And then we will hear more of Sarkozy’s (yes, Sarkozy’s) desperate cry of ‘too many immigrants’ and ‘integration is not working’. There will be civil unrest, protests and riots. And there will be war and rumours of war.

His Grace casts his mind back five years to the election of President Sarkozy, who was l’homme de la nation, dubbed ‘Thatcher with trousers’. He promised to renew France and usher in an era of economic reform and national revival, as the Great Lady did for Great Britain. François Hollande has promised the same, but nothing will change. He will strut his stuff like Napoleon on the euro-stage, the German Chancellor will let him have his moment de gloire, there will be meetings and summits, and then it will be business as usual. We must pity those millions of French socialists who have fallen for the same lies. We must pity all those who vote decisively for change but see the EU juggernaut rolling on in the same direction it always has. We have not seen or heard the last of nationalism, protectionism and racism: they are Jean Monnet’s and Robert Schuman’s lasting gift to the peoples of Europe.

26 Comments:

Your Grace not only completely understands them, you all but totally agree with them.

I have my own opinions as to what the future is very much planned to give us. The truth is that not even our owners know exactly what the outcome will be. However they are as assured as they can be that it will all turn out OK for them whatever happens to us.

It is I hope becoming increasingly clear that the fate of the masses in general, has absolutely zero baring on our masters thinking.

The Roman System has us by the balls, and has only just started squeezing them.

And Francois Hollande is yet another Enarque, so nothing is likely change except the story.

What is noteworthy is the footage of the UMP post-election rally at which Sarko spoke with dignity in conceding defeat. The UMP audience was overwhelmingly white and middle-class, unlike Hollande's constituency. Now, the crawl at the bottom of the TV screen last night reported voting results from all the French departments, in itself more relevant than the gushing of French anchorpersons. It is part of the French conceit that Papeete has the same aspirations as metropolitan France, but the numbers tell a very different story. Mendicant provinces such as Reunion, Polynesie Francaise, Papeete, Wallis et Fortuna, St Pierre et Miquelon etc were reporting votes 65-35% in favour of Hollande versus Sarko. No wonder there is an anti-immigrant feeling in France, the mendicants have decided on which side their baguette is smeared with buerre and are voting for even more.

However, aggregate French indebtedness currently totals 346% of GDP, a measure that includes Households, Non-financial corporations, Financial Institutions and Gouvernement. The comparable metric for the UK is 507%, just behind class leader Japan on 517%. The incoming French Treasurer (Segolene Royale? Now that would be fun) therefore has more room for manoeuvre than Georgie-boy.

Possibly too early to expect a one-way stampede into St Pancras International.

The challenge for France is to strike a balance between the economy and the polity. If the Euro implodes, the French economy will boom as the private sector takes up the slack. If the Euro survives, the alliance with Germany will become ever more oppresive as the economy contracts and tax revenues fall. With 50% of GDP dependent on Government spending, France cannot afford this outcome. In short, the French have a vested interest in Euro-failure, but their political class cannot admit this conclusion.

Your Grace...Your posting is as scary as it it is concise.This sleep-walk into danger is apparent to anyone with any interest, let alone qualifications, in history. If anyone wishes, have a look at Bill Caddick's song "The Writing Of Tipperary". Here is one verse:

Of the Nineteen-ten monarchs who mourned for King Edward In Nineteen-thirteen few survivedThough some of them lived to a peaceful old ageAssassins took many a lifeDeath came calmly to China and SwedenBut elsewhere the murderer's handStruck the Pasha of Turkey and the King of the GreeksWhile Spain pursued Death's planThe armies of Europe paraded and posturedThe stockpile of weapons increasedAt The Hague, as if in grim desperationThey opened the Palace of Peace

We should be the rats of Europe. Leave the sinking hulk of the Euro vision (costing us £50 million a day at the very least - I worked out that this would employ about 300 extra staff at those pesky British Airports for a whole year -that this would be what we contribute to the EU in one day between the hours say, of midday and 3 pm.

Love the idea of the French coming over here. It would improve the eating scene in London no end - look at South Kensington area, some of the cheapest and best eateries in London. So, t'en fait pas, we might even be do better with our le pudding de Yorkshire or Toad-in-the-trou. Come to think of it Franglais reigns supreme so we will all understand one another very well.

I heard a Greek woman (like other Europeans) complaining that it was not the people's fault but governments etc. The people must share the blame - they were the one's that accepted 14 months pay for 12 months work, long holidays, long retirements, money showered on them by banks. They did not have to take it!

Finally,I am sick of this talk of growth. There will be very little growth for the next twenty years. Growth is dependent on people buying things! Consumerism is badly injured and will take a long spell in the hospital of Austerity to even get back to the 1980's. Oh sorry, if the Socialists have their way they will create non jobs in the Public Sector, so that's alright then.

David Cameron has stated he understands the message from the local elections "loud and clear".

He said "The message people are sending is this: focus on what matters, deliver what you promise - and prove yourself in the process. I get it." Do you really?

David Cameron has stated that he will "focus “on the things that really matter” by offering help to “striving” families and moves to create jobs." Good Lord, man, were these not already a part of your focus?

Ernst received a strange Islamic leaflet through me crater letterbox, stating peace respect,loyalty equality and freedom for all. Never had any communication from them for the 30 years I have lived in Greater London but now they want to tell me I have got them and what their religion and it's sharia laws state all wrong.

Now call Ernst a cynical old fool but could it be they guess some atrocity may occur pretty soon from their chaps, who on reading the Koran believe Mohammed's word and take what he says as what he means and requires of Muslims.

A pre-emptive leaflet for London?

That's no trains or trams or buses for Ernst and his beloved for the foreseeable future then. That should please Gideon with the current tax received from the forecourt.

Given the ruthless way the EU/ECB/IMF is treating the Greeks, I hope that they will be sufficiently emboldened by nationalist fervour to round up the Troikacrats and chuck them out of their country in spectacular fashion.

They can then default, decouple and start over. A new dawn, although it is unlikely to be golden.

At least the fourth German Reich as well as the Habsurg Empire,pays her bills! And Chancellor Angela Gowron is such a delightful character once you get past lack of humour, which is what one would expect from a German Calvanist- I have many a good trade deal with the Germans, although I'm on the whole an 'Asteroid developer' nowadays. (ergo look at Carl Jacobs, who I understand hails from human-German stock- a man with honour, gravitas, serious , but no sesnse of 'fun', non-verbose,but also plays fair, albeit displaying a ruthless quality when dispatching an enemy- my kind of guy!).

This is the proof that the euro is almost certainly doomed. When a government tries to bring about the necessary medicine to change the borrow and spend mentality of Europe they are removed from power and replaced with fantasists who believe that borrow and spend can live forever. Germany is now the back stop and paymaster for the whole of Europe and you must wonder how long they will be happy to prop up countries who are happy to spend but not to earn their way. Surely everyone can see that if you have rampant internal deflation and cannot compete with German business and not able to devalue their currency countries will suffer a long and agonising spiral until finally the people of Greece, Spain, Portugal are all unemployed and begging Germany for a handout. Its quite sad how things are turning out.

This will only increase the speed with which Cameron and Milliband's neo-con policies are proved to be wrong. Nigel Farage for PM in 2015!

Supposedly Eurosceptic Tories who are not defecting to UKIP now are no such thing. UKIP should have about 100 seats in parliament if MPs were really as they say they are. Write, call, twitter your MP. A referendum needs to happen now.

Socialists only know how to tax borrow and spend on pet projects designed to get them re-elected. They have zero knowledge of real job creation, of the positive effects of competition and spending curbs. The socialist economies of the EU are all a drag on the aspirations and living standards of the population. These socialist clowns in control of the economy destroy everything they touch and have reduced the EU to begging for loans from third world countries and China to prop up the economies of the zone. What a shambles and what a disgrace. The real political revolution in favour of a true free market economy can't come soon enough and these 20th Century dinosaurs consigned to the rubbish dump of communism, marxism and socialism, where they and their co horts belong.

During this human downturn, I am switching my portfolio to the following:

1) Military/Defence- nothing like a good war to stimulate the economy with the right wing's blessings!2) Utilities /Toilets- we all go to the 'John', ergo" Crap for $"3) Tampons- 'nough said.4) Funerals- well people die, especailly during a great depression!5) Medicines- And people want to live- especially during a great depression!6) Gold- always rare throught the galaxy!7) Cheap Property!- Just like an errection that needs viagra , It will go up, eventually !8) Expensive Property !- Buy a good slice of New York, Hong Kong or Kensington/Chelsea- it's a winner.

9) Tory Prime Ministers - cheap at twice the price(especially if you are a media mongul!).

10) Fine Art- nothing like looking at the Mona Lisa, knowing that you have shafted the Earth Union of one of her greatest peices of art work!!

And Alpha Draconis, if Anna is correct the result is inflation of Weimar proportions. Before it begins one needs to borrow even more money, but secured against a cash generating asset. If the political elite succeed in impoverishing the saving classes, and the usually do, you will be the last one standing! Think Rentenmark.

If Francois Hollande decides to fund his socialist initiatives by disarming in the current Western fashion, Dave's defence pact with the French will prove to be a mirage. Dave's underlying assumption was that Sarko would win a second term and would not cut the strength of the RN's protector, the French Navy. But if Hollande decides that naval gloire is prohibitively expensive and mothballs the Charles de Gaulle while cancelling plans for a second giant porte avions, Dave's scheme will leave the RN and any British Expeditionary Force totally naked.

The Argies must be chortling at this potential British vulnerability.

Your communicant's solution? A communique declaring that it was 'always intended to retain HMS Ark Royal and equip the vessel with a squadron of F35B vertical take-off jets pending completion of HM ships Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales'.

So Britain, France and Greece have all voted for the return of Father Christmas. Nice 'growth' not nasty 'austerity'. Bring back Father Christmas! We've all been good boys and girls, except for those vile bankers of course-its all their fault!

People have forgotten Gordon Brown getting us into this mess with his 'borrowing to be repaid on the proceeds of growth'. But the growth was all funded by borrowing! And he wasted the money bloating the public sector and buying votes.

I am finding it harder each year to avoid the miserable conclusion that people stupid enough to believe this 'borrow and spend your way out of recession' and immoral enough to saddle our grandchildren with the massive debts this philosophy demands cannot be trusted with the vote.

Mr. Bluedog,I think we both have the same sentiments regarding our obligation to defend the Falkland Islands. This we must do.However, our faith in Twentieth Century technology will not cut it. No aircrft carrier would survive very long against modern missiles; most lihely supplied by the Chinese.If we wish to retain the Falklands then we must be prepared to send down at least ten thousand troops and all their necessary equipment. I know, I know, the infrastructure isn't there but a massive, determined building program would soon rectify that.We spend one half of one percent of our defence budget on the Falklands, an amount that is IMO treasonous.We have to act and right now.

Let me see if I get this right:Socialist politics = pay people to work for the state

And, if I am not mistaken, most Western state-funded jobs are non-profit making (bureaucracy), which would mean that if Labour were in power here we would see them paying people with taxpayers money for a job that brings nothing into the UK but just enables people to pay their taxes. But when a system pays people to keep it going but has no other income it is a slowly decreasing cycle leading to oblivion.

And the French have just voted in someone who is likely to try and do just this. So the French and the Labour party, both of whom are in favour of the EU (albeit the French would like a UK-free EU), are in essence in favour of policies designed to tear down the euro, and thus the EU.

And we have a limp-wristed PM who thinks it's better to stay in this mess, throwing good money down the EU drain while we are at it, so as to benefit our economy.

Can we not just shout at them from the lifeboat, telling them that are fools, rather than shooting a hole in our hull, slicing our wrists and then diving into shark-infested waters?

Mr IanCad @ 10.45 suggests a garrison of 10,000 squaddies in the Falklands! While sharing your sentiments, one must ask, if a carrier cannot survive a barrage of Chinese anti-ship missiles, how will the freighters needed to supply food and ammo to our lads get through? Or do they live on sheep and fish? This could be worse than Singapore in 1942.

No, one must think in terms of two naval concepts; sea denial and sea control. The former is the inferior strategy and requires a powerful submarine force to implement. Fortunately the RN still possesses highly capabable subs and could deny any Argy shipping the chance of approaching the Falklands, given the political will. So a carrier-killer anti-ship missile could not be launched from a seaborne platform, but only by air or from a land base. It follows that an aircraft carrier could still approach the Falklands from the north-eastern South Atlantic, probably out of range of any Argy threat, and provide air-cover for resupply and re-inforcements. This would be an exercise in sea control.

In essence, Dave needs to re-commision HMS Ark Royal ASAP, before Hollande torpedoes the French Navy. In the meantime the force of four Typhoons on Falkland could be raised to squadron strength, given the political will.

Your Grace, from memory, Marine's father got into the presidential run off against Chirac in 2002 during the boom. France has always had an issue with race and the legacy of its empire, so you can't point to the Euro crisis as the cause, I'm afraid.

Once again, you have looked at the situation and have found a way it can suit your over-arching narrative. The truth in Britain is more prosaic. We just need to work harder and save more.

I don't think this is *because* of the crisis, but some of society's underlying problems are exposed by it. This is the political fracking of Europe. Under the pressure of a crisis, the character of a people is revealed.

There are those who look for someone to blame and for simplistic solutions (and therefore tend to the political extremes), there are those who hark back to a golden era which must be recaptured, and there are those who look to the future.

The old saw about the Chinese characters for crisis and opportunity being the same is true. Britain needs to recapture our buccaneering spirit. We also need to recapture an attention to detail and a respect for engineering which the Victorians had, and which the Germans never lost and which is the source of their export strength now (and which remains undaunted by the EU rules which you complain destroy innovation and export success).

I say men, that Flying Tiger chappie is right, you know. If Germany and her mistress France want to dominate the continent, let them. Give them a free hand. Unlike yesteryear, the little countries are with them this time. It was always on the cards, always going to happen, nothing will stop it. It’s a big ask of them too. They must stop their Socialist EU utopia going bankrupt AND keep Islam at bay. And they have Russia on their doorstep, however that country will turn out. Jolly good luck to them.

Meanwhile, the UK departs in peace. It was never our scene, I think we can all agree on that. Our future as the UK is with the English speaking countries. They’re our people, we understand them. They think like us and use our laws. Let’s hope they are sympathetic with our plight, and understand it’s our having suffered 40 years of treachery by our own politicians, that broke the old trading links.

In all seriousness, EU type hucksterism- which is all the communists and socialists of Brussels are- huckster rentseekers- always seems to manifest as a desire by its proponents to enjoy the effects of mental telepathy and mind control without actually possessing either power.

Hence the constant compulsions to get public agreements, try and dictate how people think, and on and on.

Meanwhile back in the 1950s they sat around a table and signed a bound blank stack of sheets of paper.

In truth, bluedog, "the Argies" have cut back on defence expenditure even more than the Western European nations. The latest figures I can find tell me that in 2009 Argentina spent just 0.8 per cent of its GDP on defence; this compares with the UK's 2.7 per cent in 2010.

Perhaps more tellingly, Argentina enjoyed GDP real growth of 9.2 per cent in 2010 and 8.0 per cent in 2011; so very little of this impressive growth is being squandered on toys for the generals and the admirals.

So sleep sound in your bed. For if Argentina had the military capability of taking and holding the Falklands it would also have the worry of a military with the potential to intervene in domestic politics. Few want that.

In a sense the EU is a racist organisation since it's a club of mainly white people doing business with each other at the expense of of Africans and Asians. Just look at the arrivals hall of any EU international airport and you'll see an illustration of that racism at work.

About His Grace:

Archbishop Cranmer takes as his inspiration the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby: ‘It’s interesting,’ he observes, ‘that nowadays politicians want to talk about moral issues, and bishops want to talk politics.’ It is the fusion of the two in public life, and the necessity for a wider understanding of their complex symbiosis, which leads His Grace to write on these very sensitive issues.

Cranmer's Law:

"It hath been found by experience that no matter how decent, intelligent or thoughtful the reasoning of a conservative may be, as an argument with a liberal is advanced, the probability of being accused of ‘bigotry’, ‘hatred’ or ‘intolerance’ approaches 1 (100%).”

Follow His Grace on

The cost of His Grace's conviction:

His Grace's bottom line:

Freedom of speech must be tolerated, and everyone living in the United Kingdom must accept that they may be insulted about their own beliefs, or indeed be offended, and that is something which they must simply endure, not least because some suffer fates far worse. Comments on articles are therefore unmoderated, but do not necessarily reflect the views of Cranmer. Comments that are off-topic, gratuitously offensive, libelous, or otherwise irritating, may be summarily deleted. However, the fact that particular comments remain on any thread does not constitute their endorsement by Cranmer; it may simply be that he considers them to be intelligent and erudite contributions to religio-political discourse...or not.

The Anglican Communion has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning.Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961

British Conservatism's greatest:

The epithet of 'great' can be applied only to those who were defining leaders who successfully articulated and embodied the Conservatism of their age. They combined in their personal styles, priorities and policies, as Edmund Burke would say, 'a disposition to preserve' with an 'ability to improve'.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS.(Prime Minister 1979-1990)

We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC.(Prime Minister 1957-1963)

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can).(Prime Minister 1940-1945, 1951-1955)

I am not struck so much by the diversity of testimony as by the many-sidedness of truth.Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC.(Prime Minister 1923-1924, 1924-1929, 1935-1937)

If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe.Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC.(Prime Minister 1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.Benjamin Disraeli KG, PC, FRS, Earl of Beaconsfield.(Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880)

Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.Sir Robert Peel, Bt.(Prime Minister 1834-1835, 1841-1846)

I consider the right of election as a public trust, granted not for the benefit of the individual, but for the public good.Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.(Prime Minister 1812-1827)

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.The Rt Hon. William Pitt, the Younger.(Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804-1806)